This Christmas card was created in the art course. We think it is very impressive.

We wish all students and their parents, all colleagues a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

School management of the Nelson Mandela School

On 12 December 2024, the year 11 final of the Jugend debattiert competition took place in the assembly hall as part of the German subject. The finalists tackled the question: ‘Should the school have its own social media presence?’

They delivered an exciting and content-rich debate in front of the entire Year 11 class. The good atmosphere and the high standard of the arguments made the final a special event. The very competent jury (Shiraz, Hugo and Bendix from Year 12) ultimately declared Amon (11a) the winner ahead of Nouriel (11b). Congratulations!

Following this year's winter concert in P30 on 5 December 2024, the Leistungskurs Visual Arts (Q3) would like to invite you to the opening of the “pull a face” exhibition in the new building (ground floor and first floor). A total of around 60 drawn, painted and printed works on the subject of grimaces will be on display, which the students created as part of a project assessment substituting one of their exams. We look forward to seeing you.Q3LKKu (Baumann)

We would like to invite you to our music evening on 05.12. at 18:00 in the Aula (P30). On this evening, the NMS-PopChoir and the school orchestra will present a colorful program of classical and pop music, supported by the choir and the primary wind class. We look forward to spending a musical time together with you and getting into the winter mood. 

NMS-PopChoir and Orchestra

Ira Brauns, Axel Fischer, Elisabeth Baumann and Felix Theuner

As part of a cooperative project with the Department of Education for Sustainable Development of the District Office Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Kalpitiya, District Councilor Oliver Schruoffeneger, district employee Christin Heda, Michael Böker, along with seven students from Friedensburg Secondary School, and Detlef Wingerath from Nelson Mandela School with students Marlene Rottkamp, Merit Opgen-Rhein, Ruby Belasco New, Leandra Ziche, Angelina Parchomenko Curvello, Lydia Martinelli, and Johannes Weckert, traveled to Sri Lanka from October 27 to November 8, 2024.

Dilsiri Welikala from Kite Surfing Lanka hosted us with impressive hospitality. Thakeisha de Silva coordinated and supervised the trip on site. We visited the Muslim School in Kandakuliya, the St. Sebastian School in Kandakuliya, St. Anne’s School in Thalawila, and the Sinhala Mune School. The aim was to initiate school partnership projects together with around 20 local students and four teachers.

One especially moving cultural exchange was the joint visit to Sigiriya, often called the “Lion Rock” – an important cultural monument in Sri Lanka and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The guided safari through Wilpattu National Park, led by Prof. Sampath Seneviratne from the University of Colombo, where animal tracks were documented, was an impressive experience for all.

Summer is coming to an end and the boats and flowerbeds in the NMS P30 schoolyard have been given a new autumn look. At the beginning of October, pupils from year 9a cleared the leaves from the back of the schoolyard and the flower beds. Thanks to a plant donation from the garden club ‘Zur freien Stunde’, perennials could be planted that will hopefully quickly contribute to the greening of our schoolyard in the coming year. A. Müller (KL 9a)

On Tuesday, 8.10.2024, the 10th graders of our school took part in the 25th Berlin Development Education Programme (benbi) as part of their geography lessons. The pupils were able to take part in the workshops coordinated by KATE e.V., which were offered by numerous non-governmental organisations and educational speakers at the FEZ. In the first round of workshops, which took place at class level, the pupils focussed, for example, on injustices in tourism. They made connections between privileges, discrimination and travelling to countries in the Global South and worked out connections to racism and colonial continuities. At the end, they developed approaches on how to act before, during and after travelling. In the second round of workshops, they worked with pupils from other Berlin schools on topics such as fast fashion and social media or climate change and displacement. The benbi was an ideal platform for our pupils to integrate education for sustainable development and to work together on solutions to global challenges that are difficult to develop in the weekly one-hour geography lesson. A. Müller (FB Geo)

The Mini-Marathon was held on Saturday, 28 September 2024. There were 55 students from the Primary who ran and all were able to finish the race. This was the most number of students who participated from P23. 

Thank you to Resham Mann and the parents who supported him for helping to organize this event for the Primary School.

Congratulations to all runners! The NMS Community is proud of your achievement!

The competition is aimed at all students in grades 7 to 13.

The problems can be downloaded here.

Solutions can be handed in until 11.10.2024. Contact person is Ms Figueiras (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Participants will receive the result on 18.10.2024.

Successful participants qualify for the 2nd round of the Mathematics Olympiad, which will take place on 13.11.2024 as a district round in Berlin.

The discussion of the problems in internet forums is not permitted. For further questions please contact Ms Figueiras by email.

n September 16th, our students participated again in a "Terry-Fox-Run" at NMS.

We named this run after Terry Fox, a Canadian, who was diagnosed with cancer when he was 19 years old. Despite his diagnosis, Terry Fox ran all across Canada in order to raise donations for cancer research.

In order to honor his legacy and continue to raise donations, schools in Canada have a "Terry-Fox-Run" each year.

On June 14, 2024, we, the French course Q2, spent a day learning about French history and culture. Our day began  at 9:50 a.m. in high spirits, enjoying authentic French pastries (Merci, Aux délices normands!). The first item on our agenda was a visit to the Ambassade de France. We were warmly welcomed there after passing through a security check. During the tour, we explored the outstanding architecture and art. We also learned a lot about working in an embassy and about the special role of the French embassy in Berlin in preserving and strengthening the Franco-German friendship. Afterwards, we quickly made our way to the Federal Foreign Office, where we were given an insight into the historical importance of the French language in everyday diplomatic business.

Project Music Swap Lap

The students of 7a, 7b, 8a and 9c, together with their music teacher Mr Theuner, took part in the Music Swap Lab project for the first time in 2023 and played the Sleeping Beauty Waltz by P. I. Tchaikovsky digitally with the musicians of the Bremen Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra and many others. The project enabled us to get to know classical works in a practical way and at the same time to play together with a large professional orchestra, and all the students enjoyed it very much.

Perhaps you will recognise one or the other!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m_h1w0PU4k

 Delegation trip to Kalpitiya / Sri Lanka

In the context of a cooperation project with the department of education for sustainable development of the district office Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Kalpitiya traveled from 22.1.23 - 29.1. 23 the district councilor Oliver Schruoffeneger, Svenja Arenz from the staff office, Michael Böker as subject teacher for biology and chemistry from the Friedensburg-Oberschule, Tino Schott from the Gottfried-Keller-Gymnasium with the subjects history, PW, ethics and Detlef Wingerath from the Nelson-Mandela-Schule as teacher for fine arts and drama to Sri Lanka. Dilsiri Welikala from Kite Surfing Lanka supervised the trip on site. A meeting with the ambassador Holger Seubert in the embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Colombo formed the prelude. We visited the Muslim School in Kandakuliya, St. Sebatiens School Kandakuliya, St. Annes School Thalawila, RCT School Kalpitiya, Mune School and the Muslim School Paliwasturai. The theme here, besides the impressive hospitality, was the EducationBox#2030 and a very moving exchange. This took place, for example, in exhibition rooms on the reuse of plastic waste, or after dance and mime performances on the topic of microplastics and marine protection. The delegation successfully organized a workshop with all teachers and representatives of the city administration in the city hall of Kalpitiya. We planted mangrove trees with the students of the participating schools and carried out a beach clean-up activity. 

The next steps for further cooperation within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals were bundled and outlined in school cooperation projects.

THINKING OF ALL THE WOMEN IN THE WORLD WHOSE FREEDOM IS RESTRICTED

 As teachers at the Nelson Mandela School, we want to share this video showing our solidarity with all women in the world whose rights are not respected.

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School Life

WannseeForum “Mitmischen Possible” 2023

In the week from 18.09.2023 to 22.09,2023 students from the Nelson Mandela Secondary School, accompanied by Ms. Reiß-Schmidt and Mr. Theuner, took part in the WannseeForum "Mitmischen Possible". This was a seminar that took place in cooperation with EPIZ. The Nelson Mandela School was one of four schools that took part in the seminar. The pupils took part in the workshops: Rap, theater, film and writing on creative projects and were able to exchange ideas with the pupils* from the other schools and make new friends. The results of the project work were very impressive and really successful. There was also a presentation on the work of the SV and student participation, and a discussion with two activists from BUND-Jugend. The WannseeFORUM was a great experience for everyone involved and we all had a lot of fun, we would like to thank the organizers from the WannseeFORUM Foundation and the participants from EPIZ. We hope that we will be able to integrate some of the findings from this exciting week into our everyday school life. (Report from a student)

NMS PRIDE DAY 2023

Empowering the LGBTQIA+ community in the education system is an important step towards fostering inclusivity, understanding, and acceptance in society. By promoting education and awareness, we can challenge stereotypes, reduce discrimination, and create a more inclusive environment for all individuals. With the NMS Pride Day 2023 on June 15, 2023, we saw with great pleasure how the school community of both campuses came together to celebrate each and every one’s individuality. We offered a wide range of thematic workshops and activities to support and empower people of all genders and sexual orientations.

Pride Day was celebrated by the entire school. Many classes at the NMS Primary, as well as the Pride WUV, worked hard during the past weeks to prepare for the day. Beautiful artwork created for the day was exhibited in school and during the parade. The Pride WUV performed the world premiere of their song “Vibrant Colours” that was brilliantly co-created with songwriter Chalice Phoenix. Ms. Kwai led several classes through beautiful renditions of “This is Me”, “A Little Respect” and “I am what I am”. Oshri returned for a second year to read stories and sing with the students and had everyone mesmerised. Lex Kartanė, also for the second year, helped students create their own unique Pride pins with the support of student and parent volunteers. The library created a beautiful stand with books and information related to Pride month as well as information about being an ally. In addition, there was a display of zines made by students together with Lex Kartanė that are normally displayed in the library.  There was a dress-up photo booth where students could get their photo taken by parent and P30 volunteers and plenty of colouring. One NMS parent even created an NMS Pride colouring sheet specifically for us! Philip Wade kept us dancing at the disco and P23 and P30 students made sure everyone’s faces were made up for Pride.

The Pride March over to the Secondary, accompanied by a police escort, and parent and P30 volunteers, brought our NMS Pride to the streets and enabled the whole school to come together as one school and show our Pride together.

At the Secondary campus, we started the Pride Day with an assembly on the school yard for all students Y7 to Y12. The Intersectional Student Union moderated the opening.  Short introductory speeches were held, music was played, and the structure of the day was explained. Right after the assembly, all classes started with their workshops and activities which lasted all morning - and some all day. Students and teachers were involved in watching and discussing films, discussions with experts, awareness workshops, several art and design activities, music workshops and preparations for the final assembly of the whole school.

We collected money at both campuses for two initiatives (Rainbow Women of Kenya and Let’s Walk Uganda) and together made several hundred euros.

Remember, creating an inclusive and empowering educational environment for the LGBTQIA+ community requires ongoing efforts and a commitment to addressing biases and discrimination. By integrating these actions into educational institutions like our school, we can contribute to a more inclusive society that embraces diversity in all its forms.

We would like to thank everyone who prepared and organised this year‘s NMS Pride Day and all students, teachers and families who create safe spaces, celebrate differences, and live diversity every day at NMS.

The core organizing team: Philip Wade, Felix Theuner, Goran Subotic, Tanya Mokdad, Kai Linke, Lex Kartanė, Tom Hyland, Stephanie Greenwald, Florentine Baumann, and the Intersectional Student Union.

Basketballfest 2023 (Video By David Nassim)

Return visit from Sri Lanka 2023

The Nelson Mandela School had the honour of receiving a delegation from Sri Lanka. Detlef Wingerath warmly welcomed the delegation, setting the stage for a day of meaningful discussions.

Headmaster Dr Bauer warmly welcomed the representatives of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district's Sustainable Development Unit, four students from Kalpitiya, a teacher, a headmistress, a coordinator, an artist and the esteemed mayor of Kalpitiya. The meeting was characterised by insightful discussions on the critical issues of 'no-plastic' initiatives and UNESCO school projects and provided a platform for shared learning and understanding.

The day continued with a hands-on screen printing workshop led by the advanced art class, engaging our guests in a creative exploration of artistic expression. The workshop not only showcased the capabilities of our school, but also provided a unique opportunity for artistic collaboration and cultural exchange.

A comprehensive tour of the Nelson Mandela School building gave the delegation an insight into our academic facilities, learning spaces and the vibrant student life that characterises our community.

Plans for a joint dance theatre piece to be performed in Berlin in March 2024 are eagerly awaited. This joint project promises to be a celebration of cultural diversity.

Climate - WE MUST #ACTINTIME.

  Climate Clock

Climate Clock image used with kind permission of Climateclock.world. Permission granted on 02.11.2021.